November might be right around the corner but before it arrives, I want to share the tenth release in The Soul Mate Tree Collection, Soul Song, a paranormal romance, by the talented duo writing under Mikea Howard.

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Writing under Mikea Howard, we are actually Mindy Howard and Kelly Smith, sisters-in-law who share a love for romance, usually paranormal. We have spent the last several years reading and sharing books as well as authors, often making comments about how we’d love to write our own when we ran out of things to read.

While based on our TBR piles, we have not run out of reading material, we decided to write when the muse hit Kelly with a dystopian diesel world and an opening scene with the heroine running out into the woods. Mindy then saw her hero step in, and The Diesel War series was born.

When Cheryl Yeko and Char Chaffin (AKA CiCi Cordelia) asked us to join this project, we knew exactly who needed this magical tree to find his soul mate. Soul Song is a stand-alone, but set within our Diesel War Series. It is actually Book 2.5, taking place at the same time as Book 3.

The legend of the soul mate tree:

I am old, I am ancient, my purpose is clearTo give those who are needy a treasure so dear.They who come to my roots, touch my bark, stroke my leavesFind the soul of their lives if they but believe.When I call and you listen, your prize will be greatIf your heart remains open and you don’t hesitate.Do you yearn? Be you lonely? Is your time yet at hand?Reach for me and I’ll give to you. I’m yours to command.For your trust, for your faith, keep my secrets untoldAnd I’ll gift you forever, to have and to hold.

An ancient legend spanning eras, continents, and worlds. To some, it’s nothing more than a dream. To others, a pretty fairy tale handed down through the generations.

For those in critical need of their own happy ending, a gift.

Dottie thought she had it all: a successful singing career, a handsome fiancé, and a starlet’s wardrobe. Sudden betrayal brought it all crashing down around her. Those she trusted most played her as nothing more than a pawn. One misstep while fleeing the scene trapped her in another world alone, save a mysterious visitor.

Guatimozin, an eagle shifter, has spent ages assisting people through the realm between life and death, leading them to join loved ones on either side. No one had ever made him want anything for himself until he discovered this city girl.

Forces plot against them and time is short. Soon, their chance for a happily ever after will be too late.

Dottie wiped the tears from her face. Damn him, and damn his floosy too. She’d do what her mother constantly threatened her stepdad with, and remove his cock to wear it proudly on a chain around her neck.

I jus’ gotta find a way out of this kooky forest first.

Making her way back onto her feet, she dusted off her dress in a mindless motion. The fabric passed beneath her strokes smooth and dirt free. She studied the once vibrant red dress she’d worn on stage. The satin now appeared drab and colorless. Her bare feet peeked from beneath its hem, as clean as the moment she’d dabbed them dry from her bath. The blind sprint from her dressing room, across town, and up the hill, should have left them covered in filth.

In exasperation, she threw her arms in the air. “Swell. I mus’ be dead and I’m . . .”

She moved away from the tree to scrutinize her surroundings. As much as Dottie hoped she’d end up in heaven, her mother always insisted that, as a willful child trying to pass as something she wasn’t, her final destination would be a bit further down.

The sensation of electricity passing through the air made every hair stand on end as a matter-of-fact reply came from behind. “No, you aren’t dead, but you’re not exactly alive either. You’re in a realm known as the in-between.”

Spinning around, Dottie came face to face with a stranger. Like the tree, he appeared in color, only he wasn’t pink and purple. Instead, a tall man with reddish tan skin, swirling silver eyes, and waist length striking black hair, stared at her as though regarding a ghost. Thick muscular arms crossed over his chest as his shocked expression eased into a slow smirk, highlighting the defined beak-like nose, high cheekbones, and strong chin framing his mouth.

Nervously licking her lips, she couldn’t help but muse, Di Mi. Well hello, sailor.